A Czech friend told me that during the floods the standing joke was that the announcement was something like: "Ukončete prosím výdech a nádech. Dveře si zavirájí."
:lol: 'Terminus' isn't used in British English either. Obviously it's due to bad translation, but why complain, everybody understands! And, it'd be terribly interesting to know what the message would be (and sound like) if the New York subway(?) (metro) would be required to announce 'last stops' in Czech!... :lol: :roll: Anyhow, I once went to Jihlava (in the middle of no-where) for no particular reason and was amazed to hear the messages at the train station spoken in Czech and flawless English and flawless German as well as Russian. It wasn't taped so there must be a very talented ticket salesman there!.. I've noticed that there is a lot more information in English and German in the Metro now than there used to be (in the 1990s). At some stations there are electronic boards showing destination and so on in English and German as well as Czech.
Mravenec: I disagree with you. "Terminus" is used in British English. Here is an example: Stirling Coach Terminus, Goosecroft Road Bus Station, Scotland.
The Green Metro upon arrival to Dejvice, (last stop & transfer point to the 119 bus for the airport) also annouces the message in English;" Last stop, please exit the train (no terminus)". Definitely a recording... However, the same train, at the other end in Skalka, annonces the last stop in Czech only -- Therefore, the English speaking feature must be only where there are predictable English speaking travelers. Interestingly enough, at the Halvi Nadrari & Florenc metro stop, the anouncement is also in English, French and German ( I do not know if it was a recording or the choice of the conductor - some announcements have a female voice while others are a male voice?)
Hmm, I hear everytime in Dejvice when arriving in the "green" (A) metro the sentence "Terminus. Please leave the train." (and BTW my vocabulary "Lingea Lexicon", a software program, says "terminus" = "konečná stanice", what corresponds). And about male and female voices - I think, the "red" (C) metro has male voice and the "green" (A) and "yellow" (B) have female voices.
I don't remember how it is on the London underground, but on the trains I've been on in San Francisco and New York, it's always been the driver himself announcing the stops and the train line you're on, telling people to "stay clear of the closing doors", describing at which platform their connecting train is going to arrive, and usually mumbling something that no one can hear or understand. I'm always especially bewildered as to what the point of the driver's announcements is on the New York subway because they're incomprehensible half of the time due to the noise in the stations and the driver's apparent lack of interest in being understood. He usually sounds like he's bored to death and really couldn't care less. I have no explanation for the fact that public transport in cities like S. F. or New York does not use an automated announcement system.
Haven't ridden subway much here in US, but do remember the one time I rode it in New York that I recall no announcements at all. Luckily, I had a map and knew where I was going. Also remember having to exit the platform and cross the street above to get to the train going in the right direction - the platform didn't connect like the ones in Prague do. I prefer Prague's system - even with its idiosyncrasies, it is a delight to use.
In Washington, D.C., the departure and arrival announcements are made regularly, as in Prague. I can't recall exactly what they say at the final stop, but I believe they use something like "last stop" (for trains that don't go all the way to the end of the tunnel) or "end of the line." I'll try to pay more attention next time I visit. :wink:
The subway announcements on the Wash. DC metro are similar to the New York subway ones. Most of the time it is the driver making the announcements and depending on the driver, you will hear different variations on "this is the final stop." I will say that it is nice not having automatic announcements - some of the drivers like to have fun with it and like to add additional commentary.
